Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Proposed Cancellation ‘Fix’ May Have Limited Reach

It remains unclear how many consumers may be affected because some state regulators and insurers are unlikely to go along. Meanwhile, in congressional testimony, an administration official placed the blame for the canceled policies on insurers, saying they had the opportunity to extend grandfathered plans.

Kaiser Health News: President's Cancellation 'Fix' Likely To Affect A Limited Number Of Consumers
A week after President Barack Obama urged insurers to renew policies that don’t meet all the requirements of the health law, it remains unclear how many people might be affected by the proposed fix. That’s because regulators in at least a half dozen states say they won’t allow insurers to do it and many more have yet to decide. Even if states give insurers a green light to reinstate the policies, many insurers say they’re not sure if they can pull it off in time and no one knows how many customers who received the cancellations will want to renew (Appleby, 11/21).

Politico: Health Official Blames Cancellations On Insurers
The Obama administration’s health exchange chief squarely blamed insurers for the millions of canceled policies that have become a flash point about broken promises under Obamacare. “I believe that the law provided insurance companies an opportunity to have grandfathered plans, which would make the president’s promise true,” Gary Cohen, head of the exchange office, told a Senate panel Wednesday (Norman, 11/20).

Meanwhile, news outlets report on how specific states are proceeding -

MinnPost: Rejection Of Obamacare ‘Fix’ Also Affects Businesses
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton said Monday that Minnesotans may not renew health plans that are noncompliant with Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014, despite the fact that President Barack Obama opened the door to that option. And while the attention has been focused on the individual market, the announcement may also affect plans offered by Minnesota businesses (Anderson, 11/20).

The Baltimore Sun: Policyholders Get Chance To Extend Health Plans
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield said Wednesday that it would offer more than 55,500 customers the chance to extend their healthcare plans for another year, even though the policies don't comply with the federal Affordable Care Act. Maryland's insurance commissioner had told insurers a day earlier that such a move would be legal, and last week a beleaguered President Barack Obama asked states and insurers to consider the extensions. The president had promised Americans that if they liked their plans, they could keep them (Cohn and Cox, 11/20).

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